Absent two attackers, Ben Olsen still looks to midfield for attacking flair

By Steve Long – Ben Olsen, fresh off a well-earned coach of the year award, is about to meet his mentor in a game that may well set the tone for the 2015 season. Bruce Arena, the godfather of US coaching, will bring a slightly diminished roster to the contest, making it a challenge for both.

Arena has been in the situation many times before and has a history of preparing his teams to play as a unit. Olsen has yet to master that skill. He has spent the last several years bringing his players into a complicated system of overlap and internal rotation which has given his squad reasonable defensive posture, but left them short in attacking flair.

When Olsen was coached by Arena, he may have noticed that Arena’s practices were always well-planned, featuring game simulating flow to inculcate the habits and practices that would meet the needs of the upcoming game. It’s really just simple good coaching, but many fail in its proper execution.

In addition to setting a team pattern of play, a good coach will structure drills to instill in players better habits in their own style as well as in team play. A coach can certainly simply place players where their habits mesh well and hope for the best, but if the team is to have the required flexibility, each player must be trained to be flexible as well.

Applying this to DC United’s two wingers from 2014, Chris Pontius and Nick DeLeon, we see that they were allowed to follow their natural tendency to slant inside, an example of fitting the system to the players. It worked well enough but only for a short while. Eventually, opponents had little to fear from players whose actions were often predictable.

In practice, coaches often neglect to develop players beyond the most formative years. If a player will benefit from changes in individual approach, he is usually on his own to study films and adjust. Coaches look at the same films with an eye to a bigger picture, sometimes to the detriment of the individual player.

A few years ago, when Brian Carroll was paired as a double defensive midfielder with Olsen, his game clearly fell short. The young man studied hard on his own, learned what worked and what didn’t, and determined how to correct his game. He blossomed thereafter.

Olsen might profit if he were to have someone on his staff sit down with Pontius and DeLeon to study how they might add the flexibility they both clearly need. Following that, he needs to design team drills to reinforce the movements they should learn and to accustom their teammates to read and adjust their games accordingly.

Against Montreal United passed the ball well in midfield but didn’t finish well. Fortunately, both sides suffered from poor shooting and DC eked out a 1-0 win. Against the Red Bulls they relapsed into poor passing all over the field and still shot poorly, even from the penalty spot. The excuse of a two week layoff speaks mostly to a lack of tight enough drills in preparation.

Even the usually sharp Chris Rolfe saw many of his passes anticipated and cut off. I believe that if both Pontius and DeLeon sharpen their focus and vary their movements off the ball and with it, the combination of all three can join with an already active and effective Jairo Arrieta to score a few goals over the next few weeks.

Pontius seems to be healthier than he has been and he appears ready to take on players more physically than before. His technical speed and newly rejuvenated physical speed have not been matched by mental speed, a function of both a lack of confidence and predictable habits. With variety and the confidence that should ensue, he could still become a valuable presence.

DeLeon has no physical impairment as an excuse, but he still should profit from drills to force him to vary his attacking style. Movement off the ball, and the vision to see his teammates as they move off the ball, need to be reinforced in practice.

The two may benefit from the creative energy and challenge of Miguel Aguilar, if he can disentangle his visa situation. While he impressed the crowd in the Montreal game, he may well turn out to be predictable after a game or two. Olsen sees him as a work in progress, but might benefit from seeing his mid-veteran wingers the same way.

If either winger shows more variety in attack, United might reach critical creative mass as he combines with Rolfe and Arrieta. Their flair can’t work without at least one other creator at work.